Method of welding copper or nickel and copper or nickel alloy.



s ra ts ATENT cr mes.

WILHELM scnrunna, OF VIENNA, AUSTRIA-HUNGARY, Assrenon To THE FIRM ornnannonrnn METALLWAAREN-FABRIK ARTHUR more, or nnnnnonr, AUSTRIA-HUNGARY.

METHOD OF WELDING COPPER 0B- NICKEL AND COPPER 0B NICKEL ALLOY.

No Drawing.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 2;, 1912.

Application filed March 21, 1911. Serial No. 615,869.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILHELM subj ect of the Emperor of Austria-Hungary,residing at Vienna, Austria-Hungary, have invented certain new' anduseful Improvements in Methods of Welding Copper or Nickel and Copper orNickel Alloys, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has for object to provide a new or improved method ofwelding cop er or nickel and copper'or nickel alloys.

In autogenous welding as hitherto practiced the juxtaposed edges of thepieces of metal to be welded are heated until they fuse and unite, bymeans of a blow pipe flame which is fed with acetylene, hydrogen, watergas or illuminating gas and with air or oxygen. During the operationwire of the same metal as that being welded is generally simultaneouslymelted and allowed to fall in drops onto the 'part to be welded, afterthe.

manner of a solder.- Autogenous welding in-this manner suffices for manypurposes Where the principal point of importance is that the weldedjoint shall be tight and identical in its chemical composition with themetal on both sides thereof. So far, however, as the welding of'sheetmetal, metal bars, metal wire, etc., is concerned, all these knownmethods of welding are unsatisfactory. Those mechanical properties ofthe metal which are of much greater importance technically thantightness of the welded joint and identity of chemical compositionthereof, particularly tensile strength, flexibility, capacity ofelongation and hardness, are always of lower value in the parts actedupon in the welding operation and mostly to a considerabledegree in thewelded joint itself than in those parts of the metal not under theinfluence of the welding flame. The reason for this is that. sheetmetal, metal wire, etc, owing to the repeated, intense kneading actionto which it is subjected during the rolling and drawing processes in thecourse of manufacture always possess more technically favorablemechanical properties than castings of the same chemical composition.This difierence between wrought and cast metal is very considerable inthe case of nickel and copper as well as in alloys of these metals. Whensheet or wire, etc., of nickel and copper or of alloys of these metalsare welded as heretofore usual the center Scmnsnn,

of-the welded joint consists therefore of metal which is of inferiorquality, for it is cast metal, while the other parts of theweldedarticle remain as before the operation and are therefore of superiorquality because they are rolled or drawn. Experiments have shown that,even by a hammering ofv the Welded joint immediately after the weldingoperation, this difference in quality can only be but slightly reduced.Now, according to this invention, this disadvantage is obviated bycompletely avoiding any fusion of the edges to be welded and by heatingthem in a special manner'to softening point only and finally unitingthem by hammering or pressing. In this new or improved method of weldina special manner of heating is unavoidably necessary because if anordinary blast flame be employed the welded joints undergo chemicalchange and become superficially oxidized, the superficial film ofoxid-so formed preventing'any union at all.

For the purpose of obviating this oxidation when welding nickelor-nickel alloys as well as copper and its alloys, it has been proposedto employ hydrogen or volumes of gases containing hydrogen, with air oroxygen and to heat the part which is being welded at any particular timealternately, first to softening point ignoring oxidation andthen afterhaving softened the edges to destroy the film of oxidformed, by a'fiameof pure hydrogen or volumes of gases containing hydrogen which now nolonger acts as a heating flame but exclusively as a reducing flame. Inthis operation it is therefore necessary to direct upon each articlefirst'anordinary and therefore an oxidizing flame and-then a reducingflame which necessitates a constant reversal of the regulating devicesfor the gases supplied. This manipulation of the gas regulating deviceswhich is complex and requires great experience and dexterity, is avoidedin welding accordin to the present invention in that by a suitableselection of the composition-of the gas mixture issuing from the weldingburner a single flame of constant composition can be employed throughoutthe whole period of welding. The edges to be welded are therefore heatedto welding temperature with only a single uniform flame which alwayscontains an excess of hydrogen over and above the mixing ratio H to Oand are maintained in the welded joint also, it is 5 necessary for thispurpose to have a flame which contains hydrogen as the importantcombustible constituent. Combustible gases containing carbon would actinjuriously owing to the carbon being taken up 'by the glowing metal.

Claim:

Method of wldin copper, or nickel and copper, or nickel al oys,consisting in first heating the parts to be' welded to welding.

temperature by a flame consisting of hydrogen and oxygen in suchproportions that the hydrogen exceeds the ratio H 1), and then unitingthe parts by hammering'or' pressing immediately after the heating.

In testimony whereof]: have-hereunto set my hand in presence of twosubscribing wit-

